On March 6, 2020, I went to a musical event as a fundraiser for United Way, an incredibly fun night. The evening is forever etched in my memory because it was held on the eve of COVID becoming a life changing pandemic; we were aware, but it was not making any changes. My group still sat shoulder-to- shoulder at Showplace, at the restaurant before my chair bumped the back of the chair behind me in the crowded restaurant. I think we may have even shared desserts at our table. All of these things were completely normal until they were completely not.
As fate would have it, I went to a musical event as a fundraiser for United Way this past Sunday. I wore my mask, the Showplace Hall was half full, groups sat apart from one another, all of this normal for March 2022. The music was the same, the energy of amateur singers entertaining me, and friends was the same, the laughs at tables downstairs felt the same.
It was like live music has simply been waiting for me to return. Like life has awaited our return, we are changed, feeling radically different about a sneeze in public, about touching shoulders with strangers in a theatre, and about sharing desserts.
But still we gather in the new way, share in the new way, and know that this is only a taste of what is still to come. More of the things that have been waiting for us all this time will return. A night out with friends, sharing in live music and laughs remains, I could say that we are all a little different than we were March 2020, but just like the brand-new wider chairs in the Showplace theatre, change can be the catalyst to get us to the next good thing – and it probably sings.
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